Unlikely bonds in 1938 San Francisco

Chinese-American author Lisa See has made her mark in the realm of historical fiction by melding her well-researched historical sagas with strong female characters linked either by birth, as in Shanghai Girls (2009) and Dreams of Joy (2011), or by lifelong friendship, as in her breakout book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005).

A reader-requested sequel

The author of Shanghai Girls brings back three of her favorite characters in a new novel set during one of China’s darkest periods. Dreams of Joy is a sequel to one of your previous novels, Shanghai Girls. What made you decide to revisit that story and its characters? I didn’t plan to write a sequel. I thought the end of ...

See's sisters story continues

In 2009, Lisa See won the hearts of readers with her novel Shanghai Girls, which followed the trials and tribulations of two of her most spirited and vibrant heroines to date. Through the eyes of Pearl and May Chin, readers were transported to war-torn Shanghai and became privy to the unconscionable struggles faced by women in arranged marriages as well as Chinese immigrants in the United...

Book Clubs Column by Julie Hale

Shanghai Girls By Lisa See Set in the 1930s, See’s richly detailed historical novel tells the story of Pearl and May Chin—two wealthy, beautiful, liberal-minded sisters who are coming of age in the magical city of Shanghai. Life is grand for the girls until their father confesses that his fondness for gambling has done the family in, both financially and socially. In an effort to...

Another cultural offering from Lisa See

Lisa See’s previous work has highlighted the lives of women in China from the 17th century to the present. Her latest novel, Shanghai Girls, opens in 1937 Shanghai, then shifts to the U.S., where See focuses her unique lens on the poverty and prejudice experienced by Chinese Americans until the late 1950s.Pearl and May Chin, 21 and 18 years old, are working as models in Shanghai when...

Siren song

Nothing is more miserable—or more exhilarating—than a good case of lovesickness. But what does it mean to be lovesick? Is it high school puppy love, dreamily doodling the initials of a crush? Or is it something much darker?In Peony in Love, the elegant and haunting follow-up to her extraordinarily successful novel Snow Flower and the...